I don't know the whole story, maybe some of you could chime in and tell us some stories about this incredible race.

What I do know is that I visited Dan a couple years ago and he had this collection of parts on the floor and a Jeep body sitting there and he told me he was going to build it into a Jeep that would desert race.

Dans Jeep is on the left and brother Jer is on the right.

Jer was ready to race with a beautiful new Jeep and unfortunately he ran into some heating issues. Holy Crap! How do you build a machine that is able to withstand the 108 degree desert temps that they faced at the starting line.

They had quite a team of folks that supported them.

They started sometime around 1:00 in the afternoon and finished around 4 am the next morning. Their team racing from pit to pit to support them.

There is a ton of story behind this story and I'm hoping some of you that participated will tell us more.

What we do know is that the Simonsons finished first in their class.

Out of well over 300 starting participants they finished 101st and that 70% of their class did not finish.

To finish was one heck of an accomplishment and to finish first was INCREDIBLE!

To finish was one heck of an accomplishment and to finish first was INCREDIBLE!

Absolutely...just finishing is HUGE

This was my 2nd time chasing for OTM at V2R...both times were DNF. Last year we had electrical issues early on and finally were taken out with transmission failure at RM 370. This year we lost the rear ring & pinion at RM 292

This was my 2nd time chasing for OTM at V2R...both times were DNF. Last year we had electrical issues early on and finally were taken out with transmission failure at RM 370. This year we lost the rear ring & pinion at RM 292

I was about to ask you if you finished.

Amazing machines these guys build that can withstand the extremes of especially a race like this.
I can't wait to hear the stories.